"Our seemingly small acts can produce huge results. No one should underestimate the good that can come from what may seem to be small and simple acts of kindness, of compassion, of faith, of testimony, of service, of righteousness. However, just as the tiny Sierra redwood seeds take hundreds of years to grow into mighty trees, we, too, may have to be patient to see the results of our efforts.
"But no one in the Church should feel that their contributions are small and inconsequential. No one should feel that what they are doing in the Church doesn’t make any difference. Remember the story of the missionary who felt his mission was a failure because he baptized only one ‘little urchin’ in Wales. But that little boy was Charles A. Callis, who became president of the Southern States Mission and later a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. (Improvement Era, June 1955, p. 421.)
"’You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves,’ the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote while a prisoner in the Liberty Jail in March 1839. ’Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; …’ (D&C 123:16-17.)
“We are at the helm of our individual responsibilities. What we do in the Church does matter. And like the giant redwoods that reach ever upward, we can do great things in helping to build the kingdom of God on earth if we continually look heavenward.” (Church News, 10/21/95)
Boyd K. Packer
"There is an interesting scripture in Alma, ’Behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.’ (Alma 37:6.)
"So here is a Relief Society sister, a lovely mother, with a spoon and a bowl…with a motherly gesture, with patience, with long-suffering, with affection, with a needle and thread, with a word of encouragement, with that bit of faith and determination to build an ideal home. With all of these small things you and the Relief Society can win for yourselves and for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and for the Lord, the strength and power of a family knit together, sealed together for time and for all eternity; a great army of men, some willing and worthy, some not yet worthy, but who must serve in the ministry of our Lord. Men who now stand by the side-lines-husbands and fathers-not quite knowing, some not quite willing, yet all to be strengthened by a handmaiden of the Lord who really cares.
“May God bless you sisters. May He bless you who are the widows and the others who are raising families alone everywhere. May He bless you hundreds of thousands of wives and mothers who through the agency of the Relief Society now can be strengthened to the end that your dreams might be realized.” (That All May Be Edified, p. 78)
Hugh Nibley
“You notice that writing is the greatest of inventions, without any doubt, and yet it’s the simplest. But notice the others, such as recording or the telephone. They are awfully simple. The principles are absolutely basic; a child can understand them once they are made clear. If you list all the Nobel Prizes, every one is given for something supremely simple that everybody has overlooked…As Arthur Clarke says, writing is the only means we have of bridging time. Writing will bridge time and bring all things together. No matter when a thing is written, we can tell not only what happened and who said what, but the subtlest nuances of feeling, the subtlest thoughts of people can be conveyed for untold thousands of years….This is all communication; he (Alma) is talking about communication.” (Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Lecture 56, pp. 460-1)